The Wright Stuff and The Wright Experience

Cub Driver wrote in message . ..
Surely this can easily be proved? Two Me 262s are for sale at this
moment. They are certainly better-built than the originals, with far
better engines. If the original could fly faster than Mach 1, then the
replicas can.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Agreed, but who would want to put their life on the line to prove it?
During WW2 the Germans piloting both the Me-262 and 163 were hitting
the barrier in high speed critical dives. The reason no other
Luftwaffe pilots have come forward to support the WW2 Mach 1 claim is
simple- none returned alive to tell about it.
One of the most famous Me-163 Versuchs machines in testing reached 702
mph in such a dive and barely survived with the Me-163s tail ripped to
shreds. He's very fortunate his a/c didn't explode with the volatile
fuel onboard (which would certainly be the case for those that in
combat did break the barrier and died in the process). Same for the
Me-262 except in Mutke's case his a/c WAS severly damaged with the
wings, engines, and body badly damaged. He himself did not realize the
significance of that flight until Mach flight was better known in the
years after the war. No mystery there...
The USAF is the final authority when it comes to the historical
accuracy of Mach flight and maybe someday will reveal what they
discovered in Germany in 1945 and exactly what was done at Wright
Patterson with the Me-262. But since the truth is still masked by
secrecy (in the name of national security) I don't see this happening
any time soon.

Rob

p.s. there are many cases in WW2 of missing Me-262 and 163 aircraft
that never reached their destination nor returned from combat. Its
easy to just write them off as accidents, shot down, ditched
someplace... but I believe at least a few of these broke the barrier
and their a/c became critically damaged beyond control resulting in
their death. The Luftwaffe simply didnt have the time and resources in
1945 to investigate Mach flight beyond the realization that their jet
and rocket a/c were hitting the barrier on occasion. That's why their
pilots were told specifically not to exceed critical speeds that
threatened their a/c. In combat, this just isn't reasonable and no
doubt many Luftwaffe pilots were forced into high speed dives that
cost them their lives.